BioMADE has announced nine new projects to advance Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain resiliency and sustainability goals, re-shore manufacturing jobs to the United States, and enhance the domestic bioindustrial manufacturing ecosystem. These projects will produce natural rubber for a variety of military and commercial applications and convert waste into novel bioplastics.
Bioindustrial manufacturing harnesses the power of biology to manufacture daily use goods. By starting with feedstocks grown by American farmers, bioindustrial manufacturing creates resilient supply chains with fewer international dependencies. Products such as industrial chemicals, durable fibers and fabrics, growable cement, fire-resistant composite materials, and food-grade proteins can all be produced through bioindustrial manufacturing. Several of these products have both commercial and military applications that can be produced sustainably.
“These projects represent the breadth and depth of what can be accomplished with bioindustrial manufacturing,” said Dr. Melanie Tomczak, head of programs and chief technology officer at BioMADE. “These innovations can play a key role to enhance military readiness, strengthen domestic supply chains, support American farmers, and create jobs in rural communities.”
The projects represent a variety of tools and applications including food production, carbon capture technologies, waste-to-bioproducts conversion, and energy input reductions. BioMADE brought together private industry, research universities, nonprofit organizations, secondary schools, and community colleges for the project. It works with 17 different member organizations across nine states including Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Utah.
